Monday, 6 August 2007

Body weight culture.

Sorry for the lack of blogs over the last few days but it is the time of year when self employed people are glued to their computers trying to get their heads around end of year accounts and if, like me, you are not a natural mathematician then it is not an enviable task. I feel that stress is going to play a major part in my life over the next few weeks and my principal instructor is away leaving me with lots of extra hours teaching!! No rest for the wicked as they say.I did find a little time over the weekend to join a new community called body weight culture. The idea of the group is to support exercise that involves lifting your entire body weight, which is exactly what we do at the art of dance. The site is full of great exercises and astonishing feats such as one arm press ups and much much more. The body weight culture also supports activities like parkour which encourage using your own body as a piece of gym equipment and utilising your natural environment as a training ground. I love this concept and wish that there were more poles around the city that I could use without having to be confined to the studio. I think this may lead to me jumping around on lamp posts and children's playgrounds to get my fix!Yesterday I spent the day with my mum at Mount Edgcumbe and, as well as stuffing my face with the beautiful carvery spread at the Edgecumbe arms ,I found time to wander around the grounds of Mount Edgcumbe, there was the added bonus of the car boot sale and classic car rally to add to the eye-catching surroundings of this classic country estate. It was a nice gentle stroll and was more about relaxing than exercising. What was horrifying was the amount of obese children at the event most of whom seemed to be sat down and eating junk food. There were a few children out with their families playing cricket and other games and this was a pleasure to see as those children were being stimulated physically and mentally as well as increasing their social skills and improving bonds with family and friends. But the other kids that I witnessed were generally rude to their parents and others and did not want exert themselves physically.I hate to generalise but there really was a big difference between the behaviours of some families compared to others. I am not saying that overweight kids are always less well behaved but I think a lot of kids have a lifestyle which makes them more likely to suffer social problems as well as health problems later in life due to lack of exercise, poor diet and lack of motivation - the usual suspects. Well that must be enough whinging for one day - I will return to my accounts and then am teaching this evening. More of my rantings to follow!!Stay Healthy (and encourage kids to do the same)Sam x

1 comment:

It is a shame to think that kids aren't interested in running around. I loved it when I was younger, mucking about in trees and in parks. I have a couple of examples that might cheer you u on the subject though.

I was in Beaumont park eating my lunch only a couple of weeks ago and 2 children ran passed laughing. Not that odd you may think but they were closely followed by 4 more children and 2 adults. I didn't think much of it until they passed me again, and then again. They were doing laps of the park 'for fun' and loving every minute.

I was at Bigbury beach a month ago (it's lovely there)and I stopped to watch about 12 young children sack racing. It was great. I'm pleased I'm not a gambler because I was convinced I'd picked the winner in both races I watched, but 1 ended up with a mouthful of sand and the other crumpled in a heep on the floor.

Sam Remmer

About Me

Healthy living, healthy outlook. Sam is the proprietor of the Art of Dance pole dancing school, born and bred in Plymouth. Sam says: "I have always loved the city, despite what others may say about it I think Plymouth is a fantastic place to live. We are extremely lucky to have both beautiful coastline and gorgeous moorland as well as stunning rivers." Sam blogs on issues of health and fitness in 21st century Plymouth for the www.thisisplymouth.co.uk website.